The Snowman
by My Little Lolita
Summary: Due to all the snow we got overnight, I was inspired to write this. I OWN NOTHING.


It was once in a blue moon the Son home received snow and Kami forbid Gohan was just going to sit indoors by the fire. Quickly bundling up with multiple coats over his training gi, gloves, and a hat covering his ever-unruly hair, he yelled a good-bye to his mother and raced outside, taking off into the air.

Piccolo meditated next to his waterfall, which was nearly frozen over by now. His cape rustled about him in the chilly wind, and if it weren't for its weight, his turban would have blown off by now. It was all very peaceful until—

"SNOW!" Gohan yelled, launching himself towards Piccolo's back. As usual, his sensei was a step ahead of him and had turned and grabbed the boy by his coat and held him out at arm's length. Gohan grinned widely at him, clearly unfazed, as Piccolo dropped him and returned to his meditation. Gohan floated around so that he was eye-level with the Namek and stared, waiting for a response.

"What do you want, kid?" Piccolo asked gruffly. Although he was quite glad to see the boy, that didn't mean he had to show it.

"There's snow, Piccolo!" Gohan exclaimed, bouncing up and down slightly in excitement as he hovered.

A snort. "Obviously. Did you fly all this way just to tell me that? I'm not blind, kid."

Gohan laughed. "I know that, sir! Don't you want to play in it? You know, snowball fights, building snowmen and forts…"

"I don't _play_ Gohan. You should know that."

"Well, yeah…" Gohan said, losing some of his vigor. "But mom doesn't like the snow and I think Krillin has a girlfriend, and daddy is still in space, somewhere. And he's the one who usually plays with me and we always have a lot of fun and… and…" he trailed off, kicking absently at the snowflakes that twirled around the pair.

Piccolo opened an eye and glanced at his student, instantly noticing the tears beginning to well behind his eyes. He growled slightly. If Gohan were his son, he would never just leave him to go training in space. Goku was a fool. He knew he was going to regret this…

"What's a snowman?" he finally asked, and all traces of regret vanished as Gohan's face lit up with a brilliant smile.

"It's a man made of snow! You make three balls, one big, one medium, and one small, and stack them on top of each other. And then you can make him a face and give him arms and buttons and a scarf and…"

"Cool it, kid," Piccolo said, beginning to descend and landing softly on the snow-laden ground. Gohan followed close behind and began rolling a large pile of snow together. Piccolo stood and observed as the boy had quickly made a ball almost as tall as he was and began making a slightly smaller one. Hefting it up, he placed it on the bottom ball and quickly made a third smaller one and stared expectantly at Piccolo.

"I need help," he said, holding the ball up.

"You just lifted that one up over your head with no problem," Piccolo stated, a little dumbfounded.

"But I can't reach."

"You can fly, can't you?"

"Piccolo, you're not supposed to use your powers when you're playing in the snow! That takes all the fun out of it!" Gohan said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Daddy always put the head on for me."

Piccolo grunted and took the ball of snow from Gohan's hands and plopped it unceremoniously at the top of the structure. Gohan smiled and nodded his head, grabbing Piccolo's hand and heading towards the shore of the frozen pond.

"C'mon! Now we gotta find some rocks for the face and buttons!" he said, grabbing a handful of rocks and thrusting them at Piccolo. "Hold these! I gotta find some more!"

Piccolo watched as Gohan dug through the snow, looking for rocks that were just the right size. This boy never ceased to amaze him, he thought, as Gohan skipped past him with his prize of three larger rocks and began to shove them into the middle portion of the "body," standing on his tiptoes to reach. He then came back and took the other stones from Piccolo and stood at the base holding his arms out and looking over his shoulder expectantly.

"Up," he said, turning to face the snowman. Piccolo reached out and grabbed him by the back of his coat and began to raise him up. "No! Not like that!" Gohan exclaimed, writhing out of his grip. "You're supposed to pick me up under the arms!"

"Why?"

"I dunno… that's just how daddy always does it."

Piccolo grunted and picked the boy up under the arms as stated and held him so he was eye level with the head. He watched as Gohan began placing the rocks in the snow, making eyes, a nose, and a wide, smiling mouth, at which Piccolo snorted. At a nod of approval, he set Gohan down.

"He needs some arms," Gohan stated, heading to a tree to pick of two branches. Standing on his toes, he stuck one in on each end and stepped back to admire his work.

Piccolo raised an eye ridge at the snowman, with his lopsided smile and one arm slightly shorter and thicker than the other.

"Snowball fight!" Gohan shouted, throwing a wad of snow at Piccolo's back, which promptly exploded on contact. He laughed manically and ran in the opposite direction shouting, "You're supposed to chase me and throw snowballs at me!"

Piccolo stared after him for a minute and then looked around. Oh, what the hell, no one could see him. He picked up a handful of snow and began to walk after Gohan. Okay, so maybe he could get used to this playing thing. The snowman they had built stayed behind, smiling after them.


End file.
